


The Symphony of 'Us' Plays Until We Burn Out

by Yayate



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Symphogear, Edeleth, F/F, Female My Unit | Byleth, It's Symphogear, Punching, Singing, Singpunching
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:55:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23132779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yayate/pseuds/Yayate
Summary: I sing, to protect those I loved. And I'll keep singing, to protect everyone I may come to love.Sothis is a powerful warrior wielding the power of an ancient Relic, a fragment of the holy spear Gungnir. By using the power of the Symphogear system, she can manifest the holy spear itself and adorn herself in armour worthy of the Relic.Her songs are the only thing that can stop humanity's enemy- the Noise. A mysterious force of enemies that can reduce any human to dust with a single touch.Edelgard and Byleth are two high-school students who had just officially started dating, and Sothis' concert is the site of their first date. They come to meet their idol, and discover that she is the only one standing between the Noise and humanity's end. Can they reach out and help their suffering, lonely protector?~~~An ongoing fic about FE3H characters being in the Symphogear universe. Knowledge about Symphogear is really not going to be required to enjoy this fic! I'll be explaining everything as it comes up.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	The Symphony of 'Us' Plays Until We Burn Out

“Byleth? I must apologize, my dear. I might run a little late. I’m so sorry. Mother and I left early, and yet we’re still stuck in this horrible traffic.”

“It’s alright, El.” It wasn’t, but Byleth couldn’t bear to tell her that. This was supposed to be their first date! How could you ever be late to something as important as this!? They had been friends for… how long now? There was no way Edelgard didn’t know how not-okay this was on Byleth’s radar of not-okay things. But, she couldn’t just get angry at her! It wasn’t like Edelgard would ever want to miss a second of seeing Sothis in concert! She was probably just as heartbroken as Byleth, if not a little more. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Father held no expense while booking these tickets, so please feel free to enjoy our private room.”

Right! They had a private room! The arena could hold well over a hundred thousand people, and the view Edelgard had gotten them was the best of the best. Byleth felt a little bad about how much Edelgard must’ve spent on it, especially given how poor her own family was, but she probably deserved to indulge in some of life’s luxuries every now and then, right? “I’ll miss you, please hurry!”

“I will! See you soon, I love you, my By.”

“I love you too! I love you, El! I love you so much!”

“I love you, too.”

“I love you so much…”

Byleth could hear the phone be yanked out of Edelgard’s hands as someone whined at her with a sharp ‘Just hang up already.’ It sounded like one of her brothers, oops. As soon as their call disconnected, Byleth quickly texted Edelgard.

_“I love you!”_

The ‘read’ notification instantly popped up, but she didn’t respond. Knowing her siblings, she was probably getting scolded for acting so ‘uncharacteristically affectionate’ or ‘unladylike’, as if they had any say in it. Byleth pouted, but quickly put her phone away, pulling her head away from her hands and towards the large, gated entrance to the arena. Everyone was getting funneled through a small hallway before they would eventually reach their seeds, but thankfully, Byleth could avoid that. She would’ve probably gotten a panic attack if she had to wade through such a thick ocean of strangers! Byleth instead moved towards the quiet and unchaotic VIP entrance. It seemed surprisingly unmajestic, given that it was just a single door guarded by two or three security officers. Kinda looked more like a backdoor entrance than something Byleth would ever assume was a VIP entrance. Byleth swallowed her anxiety, gathered her courage, and stepped forward, whipping up her ticket on her phone.

“Um, hello. I’m with the Hresvelg family.”

One of the guards grabbed onto their tag scanner and swiped it across their phone. It beeped a few times, and then, uh…

W-Why were they quiet? Did something go wrong?

“Are you sure you’re with the Hresvelgs? They’re wealthy enough to own two booths, and you…”

The guard’s judging eyes trailed across Byleth’s body. She wasn’t sure what made her more uncomfortable, the way he was staring at her or the fact that he basically just told her she looks poor. Sure, next to Edelgard, she really did look poor! But she had dressed the very best she possibly could for the day! It was just a pair of black jeans with a matching black button-up shirt that bore just the slightest part of her midriff. Was it her glasses? They didn’t look that bad! They were just a simple red pair. El liked them...

“Yes! I’m with Edelgard.” Byleth grabbed for her wallet and whipped out her ID. He took it from her, stared at her, the ID, her again, before sighing, giving it back, and reaching for something behind him. He flipped through a handful of documents before ripping off what looked like a key card. ‘Looked like’, because, uh…

Well, Byleth thought her eyes were just fooling her, but when the guard handed it to her, she realized it really WAS made out of some metallic substance. It was sparkling silver, wait, was it made out of silver? Actual silver? The letters engraved in it were a shiny yellow that heavily contrasted the silver around it. It kinda looked like the letters were made out of gold, but Byleth kinda didn’t want to believe that. Because that meant this keycard was probably more expensive than every single thing Byleth had on her. Including her phone and everything in her wallet.

Yikes.

“Alright, Madame Hresvelg.” You- wait… you what!? Well, it wasn’t like she was opposed to the idea of taking her last name in the future, but, um, they definitely weren’t married yet! And, um, um… ahahaha… geez. That was something that could potentially be in their future, wasn’t it? If their relationship progressed as well as their friendship did… “Madame Hresvelg?”

“Ah! Yes?”

“Your booth is the second down the hallway. Please refrain from loitering around. Swipe your card around the scanner and the door will open right up. Further details on our amenities can be found in your room.”

With a loud click, the door in front of her opened, and the unassuming door turned into an unimaginably fancy hallway. Even Edelgard’s family didn’t spend this much money on making their walls look this shiny… the floor was less overly polished, and thank the heavens for that! Byleth would’ve probably felt guilty even stepping inside given how much a janitor must’ve slaved. Hell, she felt guilty stepping inside now! While that was partially because of how rude the people at the door were, there was something uncomfortable about being able to look at a wall and be able to see her own glimmering reflection. Like, this wasn’t even glass or anything!

Seriously, it looked really pretty, but it didn’t exactly help in making her feel any less alien. Even the hallway was way out of her league, geez…wait, was her makeup doing okay? Byleth usually didn’t like, put any real effort into that sorta thing! But this was supposed to be her first date with El, so… after staring into the reflective walls to make sure her makeup hadn’t turned into a complete and utter mess, she trailed off and headed for their private booth.. The solid-black door stood out awfully well, and so did the gold- well, hopefully just gold plated- nameplate. 

They seriously went out of their way to fix up a nameplate? A GOLDEN nameplate? Edelgard wasn’t kidding when she said that this place was ridiculously upscale, geez. Byleth knew this was supposed to be the world’s largest multi-purpose stadium, but she kinda assumed it being so large would come with, you know… some concessions. Byleth swiped her card across the reader and stepped inside.

Only to be wowed again. She was kinda just hoping that the room would have free wifi, but this was ridiculous. It didn’t look like somewhere someone was only supposed to stay for like, maybe one night at most. It looked more like a fancy hotel room! Or what Byleth imagined a fancy hotel room would look like. Honestly, it was crazier than what she was used to seeing on TV! And she figured those had to be kinda exaggerated. Aside from just the fancy television that was mounted on a wall, there were two smaller ones in the upper corners of the room, too! They were kinda angled so that you could easily watch both of them from the bed.

The bed.

T-the bed....

They even had a bed!? Why! That’s just silly. Are you like, allowed to rent these out for more than just concert days? Because, um, that’s kind of…

Byleth shook her head and stuck her head into the bathroom. The… complete bathroom. That even had a really large bath. That two people could easily fit in.

Two people.

...would Edelgard want to? They hadn’t bathed together since they were young children! When they reached puberty, those thoughts kinda turned too embarrassing for Byleth. Bathing with the girl you like? That you’ve liked as long as you remember? While she didn’t know Edelgard returned her feelings? Yeah, the younger, dumber Byleth would’ve probably done something extremely regrettable. But now that they were officially dating? Maybe, just maybe… um… they were basically adults! Well, as much as ‘sixteen’ can make you an adult. But they were adult enough to do that… sort of thing together… if Edelgard so wished…

Byleth, you idiot, you’re getting yourself worked up again… not now, you idiot. You’ll actually end up doing something stupid if you get in that sorta mood! Calm down! Byleth quickly grabbed one of the many complementary glasses and a large helping of water, to help bring herself back down from that floaty mood. Without… you know, doing anything stupid that she probably didn’t have the time for. And probably shouldn’t be doing, anyway, considering that she was in what was basically a hotel room that- ah! Stop, stop, stop! Get yourself under control! Those sort of thoughts! Out of your head! What if El knew you were thinking about these sorta things, Byleth!? Idiot! She quickly grabbed another glass of water and downed it, before taking a second just to make sure she wouldn’t get too, uh, thirsty again. Stop thinking about those sorta things! Byleth pulled herself back out of the bathroom and quickly tossed herself onto the bed instead.

God, why was she feeling so tense!?

Byleth and Edelgard had spent their entire lives together! This was no difference. This was just another day for them! Just another day. The only difference is that they were calling this a date, and, you know… the makeup and the dressing up as well as she could part.

Nn, how long was it until the concert was actually supposed to start? Like… twenty or thirty minutes, right?

Why’d El have to be out of town today… why’d she have to be late!

Maybe she should just close her eyes and let Edelgard wake her up when she showed up. She barely slept the night before, anyway. She could use it! After putting her head down on that pillow, she started realizing just how tired she had been. Yeah, maybe getting a small nap in wouldn’t be so bad. The concert’d wake her up whenever it started, anyway, and seriously she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable about having to wait here, alone, for El.

Just close your eyes… and relax. It’ll be the last rest you’ll get for the entire night. Byleth carelessly let herself drift away, hoping the first thing she’d see upon waking up would be Edelgard.

“Nn…?”

It felt like she’d only passed out for a handful of seconds, before the roar of music shocked her awake. Byleth jumped up and out of bed, grabbing her phone and checking the time. Oh. She’d been out for… about forty minutes maybe? Her last message to El was 50 minutes ago, and it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes before she managed to pass out, right? She hadn’t received any messages from Edelgard since.

_“you okay?”_

Byleth followed her slightly worrying message with a few stickers of girls making hearts with their hands just so that Edelgard knew there wasn’t necessarily anything to worry about. Byleth awkwardly fiddled around with her phone until she saw that ‘read’ notice pop up a minute later. 

_“I’m almost there. I’m so sorry, my dear. I’ll make it up to you in person, tonight.”_

She what? Ah! Don’t say something like that! Don’t even imply something like that! Just the thought got Byleth flustered! Byleth tried to type out a response but instead she just kinda ended up mashing her thumbs around the touch keyboard instead. 

_“asdjkfnsdf EL”_

Read. but no response. After a few minutes of waiting, Byleth realized that this was probably exactly the reaction she was fishing for… ah, how much longer was it going to be? Five minutes? Ten? She’d slept through almost the entire wait, and she still felt she’d spent way too much time alone in this unfamiliar place. Byleth dragged herself out of bed and started pacing around, before finally heading towards the huge viewing window and deciding to watch the concert.

Yup, there she was. Microphone to her face, band behind her. Her beautiful, shining green hair flowing behind her as she sung her heart out. And all at a reasonable volume, too! Like! Noticeable and enjoyable, but not too loud. Byleth really wasn’t a fan of loud noises, and just standing here definitely made all of it more bearable than she ever thought possible! Who’da thought, a social recluse that hates loud noises actually enjoying a concert? There were all sorts of pretty lights flashing around, too.

Um, what was the name of this song again? Edelgard liked it. Something something flames? It was really energetic and rock-y and pretty pleasant to listen to! Sothis’ strong, commanding voice stole the show, though! While the heavy instruments in the background were great, her singing just kinda caught all of her attention. It was almost hypnotic! Byleth quickly fished out her phone again and quickly sent a picture of the distant Sothis to El, but she again didn’t respond. Urgh, dummy… 

It was all really pretty. It was all wonderful, but it just wasn’t the same without El.

~~

This is all… really lonely. Byleth was just standing here, her hands against a window, peering down and staring past thousands of people who were all here to see a single person sing. When she tilted her head to the left, she saw families sit together, when she looked back to the right, she could see countless teenagers sitting with their lovers. No matter where she let my eyes wander, there’s not a single person here that was left alone.

Not a single lonely person, other than my own barely visible reflection.

Edelgard, please hurry up! I need you. I want you. I want to hold your hands. I want to enjoy your presence! I want to hear you talk, I want to enjoy your scent, I want to enjoy your lips and your kisses and your everything! I just want you here.

Let me be selfish, and be here with me, please. I don’t want to be the only one left alone. I don’t want to be the only one here not accompanied by friends or lovers or family or anyone! Even if it’s only going to be for a few moments longer, seeing all these people makes it impossible not to realize what I’m so desperately missing. 

Stop being a crybaby, Byleth. Stop it. This was just going to be our first date. The first of many. The first of countless! The first day of the rest of our lives! Everything will be fine. Let me just close my eyes and whimper. Let me let these childish feelings out before Edelgard can ever see them…

Huh?

Is the window… shaking?

Byleth could feel it vibrate against her fingers. Is it the music? No, that wouldn’t make any sense. The music had been playing this entire time now. Why would this incredibly think glass just choose to start beating with the tune now? Especially because Sothis and her band were starting to wind down from their current song.

So what…?

As the music came to a complete stop, another song pierced past the window. 

This time, not from Sothis, not from her bandmates. Not from any human being, really.

It was a symphony of sirens.

...Why?

Her phone, too, started buzzing, emitting a similar high pitched whine.

Why?

They were in the middle of the city. In the biggest concert the world had ever come to know! There were too many people for this to happen. People all over the world were here to watch this concert. This couldn’t happen here. It simply couldn’t. It had to be a false alarm. Maybe the defensive systems malfunctioned due to the abundance of people and them using her phone? Maybe it was just someone playing a prank? It had to be. It had to be!

Byleth slowly reached for her phone. It couldn’t be. Countless people were scrambling to get out of their seats and leave, but it couldn’t be! It couldn’t be. And the alert on her phone would agree! It’d say something along the lines of ‘false alarm’ or ‘emergency testing’ or something like that, right? Right?

No, it wasn’t anything like that. When she finally felt the courage to look down, her worst suspicions came to life.

**_NOISE SIGNALS DETECTED_ **

**_IF YOU ARE LOCATED IN ANY OF THESE AREAS, EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY_ **

**_‘Harmonic Arena’_ **

Ah.

...yeah.

It’s ironic, isn’t it? The Harmonic Arena was built to celebrate global harmony. To embrace ‘the symphony of humanity’. It only makes sense for the symphony of our discord to appear during the opening concert.

I’m scared.

All I had to do was turn around and run as fast as I possibly could.

I’m scared.

All I had to do was to get to safety as quickly as I possibly could.

I’m scared.

So why can’t I move my legs!? Why can’t I run away in fear? Isn’t that what we, as humanity, are supposed to do when the Noise appear!? We can’t fight them. We can’t beat them. All we can do is run away from them, until they fade back into the winds they spawned from. 

I just need to run. I just need to run! Run away, run away, before…

It’s already too late, isn’t it!?

Isn’t it?

The window in front of Byleth slowly cracked as some sort of dark mass formed past her final protection. As it grew more corporeal, the shaking intensified and the crack further grew.

It’s okay. It’s okay. There’s no way the Noise could pose any sort of realistic threat. There’s no way. Think about what you learnt in school, Byleth. They can only kill people through carbonization! And there’s no way there could be enough Noise to do that! There’d have to be at least one Noise per person! 

That can’t happen. That just couldn’t happen.

It shouldn’t be happening.

And yet, the gate of dissonance just kept… growing. Even as it seemed to turn more physical, it kept growing. How long does this process supposedly take? Ten to fifteen seconds? And yet still, it felt like it was taking forever.

The accumulation of energy faded.

And was quickly replaced by something utterly immense. It had to be at least the size of an elephant. Far bigger than the size Noise were supposed to be. They’re supposed to be like humans! Vaguely humanoid in size and shape. And yet this monstrosity doesn’t resemble anything that could possibly be alive! Those in the arena beneath Byleth were doing their bests to escape, but the panic inevitably had left the exits congested. The only ones not in a panic were those frozen in fear. Those on stage seemed to be uniformly frozen by the beast that had formed only inches away from them, with Sothis being the only one still moving. Instead of running away, she was just… pulling people away. To safety. 

And yet Byleth couldn’t even get herself to run away. Sothis, a girl barely three years older than her, was sacrificing her very being to get others to safety.

The Noise thankfully hadn’t moved. It just sat there. Uncharacteristically docile. Even as it had stopped growing, it wouldn’t attack.

Was everyone panicking for… nothing? Was it too big to move? Look, it had even started to shrink. It was probably just… fading away, like Noise tended to do. Nobody had to die. Not a single person had to die.

Those hopes instantly shattered, along with the reinforced window in front of her. It happened faster than Byleth could react. It happened faster than anyone could ever hope to react. The tiny tendrils that almost completely withdrawn into its body suddenly erupted.

Byleth couldn’t even see them move.

All she could see was the final result.

Had she been standing even a single inch to the left, her shoulder would’ve been pierced. Those tiny tendrils had just burst out of its body, now more akin to mile-long spikes than the long, flowerless vines then they had been just a second ago. 

And they were countless

Countless

Countless!

Razor-thin infinitely sharp spines.

The majority of them were aimed at the opposite end of the stadium. She could only barely discern one human body from the other, but the scene was still…

Even a singular spike was enough to pierce through tens of humans.

And even though the spikes began to carbonize.

...nothing else did. Not even a single part of its body. Even as the stinger besides her faded to dust, the monster itself remained completely unaffected.

The smell of death wafting through the stadium was finally enough to unthaw the terror-frozen Byleth, but she could only take a single step back before another spike surged past her face.

Ah.

Byleth couldn’t feel her legs anymore. They were still there, but she couldn’t feel them. She couldn’t move them. They had lost all of their strength so quickly that Byleth stumbled over backwards and fell over. Why wouldn’t they work? Why weren’t her legs working!? This is too dangerous. Her hands pushed off on the grounds in an attempt to drag herself backwards, but she could barely get herself to move. She was so weak.

Am I going to die here?

That’s not fair.

I’m only sixteen!

I’m just a teenager! I’m still a child! I finally managed to confess to the girl I’ve always loved! This was supposed to be our first date! A wonderful preview for the rest of our life! 

I don’t want to die.

...don’t let me die.

I don’t deserve this. All I really wanted was to spend a day, today, with Edelgard.

“Byleth?”

I must be going crazy. Because that’s definitely Edelgard’s voice. Edelgard wasn’t here. Edelgard was late. Edelgard was safe. If she was here, she wouldn’t be safe. So she wasn’t here.

“Are you injured?”

Again.

Even as Byleth could feel Edelgard’s arms wrap around her, and even as Byleth could see Edelgard’s beautiful brown hair close to her own cheeks, she refused to believe she wasn’t just going crazy.

Because if she was here, that’d mean she would die, too.

And that couldn’t happen. That’s just… impossible.

Byleth was already paralyzed with fear. She couldn’t handle anything more. Because she didn’t want to die.

“Byleth, come on. Get up. Onto your feet…”

It was too late. The walls were cracking. The floor was breaking. Before Edelgard could force Byleth onto her feet, it had already happened. Everything around them collapsed, and the two young lovers were swallowed by a landslide of rock and metal.

~~~

I can’t move.

I can’t move. I can’t move. I can’t move. I can’t move. I can’t feel my arms. I can’t feel my legs. I can’t feel anything.

“Byleth? Come on, you have to get up…”

I can hear her talk, but I can’t respond. Why can’t I talk? Why can’t I get up? My eyes hurt. Everything’s blurry. Everything’s so foggy, and things just won’t stop shaking. I can barely even hear my girlfriend talk.

“Here. Hold on, tight. It’ll all be okay.”

Ah. Is she lifting me? I’m feeling really nauseous, all of a sudden. Everything’s shaking too much for me to tell. All I can do is cling tight like she asked me, and hope everything’ll be alright. Edelgard’s strong. Well, physically, she’s always been a little on the lanky side, but she’s a really strong person, and she always has been! Look, I can’t even walk, and she’s still going. We both fell the same distance… and she’s just… shrugged it off. There’s no girlfriend stronger than mine.

“Door’s jammed. God fucking…”

Eheh. Cute, she doesn’t usually swear. Or talk informally, in general, really! She’s the cutest, sweetest rich brat I’ll ever meet.

I love her a lot. And that’s why we’re going to be fine. I love her so much.

“It’ll all be okay. It’ll all be okay.”

My senses were slowly returning to me, and with it came a surge of pain. Oh. Edelgard must’ve set me down again. I can’t blame her, I’m like twice her size. That’s fine. We’re still going to be safe.

...or so I thought. For just a few seconds.

It’s still there. I couldn’t see it earlier, but it’s still there. It’s slowly crawling to us, as if crawling for fallen prey.

“Hey, kids! Sorry I took so long. You’re safe now. It’s fine. It’ll all be fine.”

Someone’s yelling for us from above, and before I can tilt my head to see her, she had already hopped down. No, wait. That must just be her eyes acting up. The edge of the arena was several meters high. There was no way someone can just casually jump from there and not even shrug as she lands!

“The one time I leave you with the Boss, Gungnir… stay behind me, you two. And just listen to me sing.” It was Sothis. The famous vocalist, Sothis. The performer they had come to see, Sothis. And this green-haired lady, is the only thing standing between us and the certain death of the Noise’s jaws.

_croitzal ronzell Gungnir zizzl_

I can’t quite understand what she’s saying, but somehow, those words etched themselves into my heart. And they too, carved something into reality, as Sothis was soon swallowed by a pale flash of light. 

“This is the biggest Noise I’ve ever seen, but it’s still just a Noise.”

As she spoke, music started. Huh? What the- where’s that even coming from!? The instrumentals to Sothis’ music had just… kicked in. And soon, too, did her voice. Together, they made the one song Sothis could play before tragedy struck.

Why is she singing?

...it doesn't really matter.

Because what I saw after was nothing short of a miracle. The light that swallowed her body faded, and instead of wearing that fancy, idol-y dress, she clad herself a skin-tight bodysuit. Orange, with white highlights, and a black plate of seems to be some sort of armour adorning her belly.

No, that’s not the important part.

What’s actually important is the gigantic spear that had appeared in her right hand. White, red and gold. With some sort of red crystal in the middle of it.

Just what IS she!? And why is she bearing a spear against a Noise? Even if she has that fancy outfit, and even if her spear looks as fancy as it does, that’s not enough to beat a Noise! It can’t be. They’ll just… phase through her spear, and then kill her with just one touch.

Just… just killing yourself won’t save us.

But neither of us are really in a position to tell her to leave, are we? We can’t just… run away. The doors are all locked! Edelgard might be able to climb up, but…

I don’t want her to leave. I don’t want her to die, either, but if she leaves…

I need to be wrapped in her arms like this, for just a little longer. With all the strength I can muster, I firmly lock my arms back around Edelgard.

It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.

“Are you scared? Are you worried? Don’t be.”

If nothing else, Sothis definitely doesn’t seem worried. She was feeling casual enough to turn her face away from the monster about to swallow her, and just… shoot us a carefree smile. She didn’t even care to turn towards her predator as it leapt forward with enough force to leave the ground shaking.

Sothis just… lifted her spear.

And with one strike, let it fade into nothing but dust. The entire, huge beast. Sothis’ spear hadn’t even touched it. All she did was casually lift her spear, and that was enough to sever it. 

The Noise. Humanity’s forever nemesis.

Banished with a single strike. A single, effortless strike.

“Stay back, kids. This isn’t over yet.”

The dust started pulling itself together, and rather than again becoming one amorphous blob, it coagulated what definitely looked like at least a thousand small pufferfish-like Noise. Covered in spikes like their much bigger origin had earlier formed.

But they… don’t really stand a chance.

Because Sothis’ performance is just… shredding them one by one. It’s almost like she’s just casually performing and dancing with her spear. Faster, and faster, and faster, and faster. All I can do is watch, and witness her performance rip everything to shreds.

“See, Byleth? We’re safe. We’re safe. We’re both safe. I love you, we’re safe…”

But even though Sothis can dispatch tens with a single strike, they just keep coming.as if there’s no end to this madness. And, inevitably, Sothis’ movements slowed down. Less than half of them still lived. So all she has to do, is keep going for a little longer.

“Ngh, they just keep coming… don’t worry, girls. I won’t let you two give up on life. I won’t let there be no survivors.”

Yeah. You can do it, Sothis! She took a few steps back and came closer to us, but she was still keeping the army of Noise at a distance.

But she… stopped moving. She wasn’t swinging her spear anymore. Instead, she reached into her suit and pulled out a single, green vial, loaded in what seemed like a jet injector. She pushed it to her neck, and readied the trigger-

But before she could inject it.

One of the Noise’s many needles had already shot forward and scattered the glass and goo all over the ground.

“Ah… Ow. That’s really nasty. It’s nothing, but…”

Her neck’s bleeding. Enough blood to run down her shoulders. Sothis is bleeding. Over herself. There’s enough blood for someone as goddamn blind as me to see! It… it… did it strike a major artery? Not only that, but rather than turning her into dust, the Noise had actually injured Sothis. Enough to make her bleed. But that can't stop her! Something like that can’t just… stop her…

Right?

Look, she still has her spear in her other hand. She can still… save us.

...the noise weren’t willing to wait for Sothis to recover. They had already stopped attacking again. While her sluggish movements seem like they’re still more than enough to dispatch these creatures, it’s hard to not notice her slow down further.

...and get hit more. And bleed more. And stagger back, towards us, more.

She’s bleeding so much.

And rather than fight?

She’s just… holding her spear between herself and the Noise. And she’s just… staggering. And staggering. And staggering. Run away, you idiot! There’s no need for three people to die. It can just be two of us! You can survive, and protect more people! I’m trying my hardest to scream all of this from the top of my lungs, but I can’t talk.

“It’s okay, kids. Don’t worry. I told you. Don’t move. Stay behind me. And listen to me sing.”

_gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal_

I don’t know what she’s singing, but it sounds beautiful.

_emustolronzen finé el balal zizzl_

It’s probably the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard.

_gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal_

Even though I know none of the words she spoke, I can feel them etch into my heart. It’s all going to be alright, isn’t it? I just know it. Her song is telling me so. The power eminating from her skin is telling me so. She’s so strong, her body’s glowing. She’s so strong, I can feel a soft gale tickle up my skin. Everything’s going to be fine.

I’m starting to get dizzy, I can’t stay conscious any longer. Edelgard had passed out, too. It’s okay for me to sleep too, right?

_emustolronzen finé el zizzl_

And I know this is going to be her last song, anyway. The final thing she’ll ever sing. I need to just calm down and listen.

Calm down and listen

Calm down and… listen.

Sothis lifted her spear into the air, and a current of power. One strong enough to wash away all the Noise that were swarming her.

...all but one.

And a single Noise was more than enough.

It… it shot towards the blade of her spear.

...and shattered it into countless pieces.

And that red crystal…

Shot towards us.

...and drove straight into Edelgard’s neck.

She’s bleeding. I can feel her bleed over me. I can’t hear her breathe. I can’t feel her heart beat against my, anymore.

Was she… going to…

Were they… going to…?

I don’t know. All I know is that Edelgard’s bleeding, and that I can see Sothis fade into ashes in front of my very eyes,


End file.
